The prior art shows examples of display systems that facilitate the presentation of panel arrays. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,934,331 to Zlotocha, provides a system for presenting arrays of photographs and the like using wall-mounted structural component assemblies. U.S. Pat. No. 7,086,190 to Voluckas also allows for the presentation of planar visuals, where components such as elastic cord, slotted tubular members, floor anchors, and different cord interfaces are used for this purpose. Cord is also used in the wall hanging device provided by U.S. Pat. No. 6,820,853 to DuBarry, which uses a mounting structure fixably attached to a wall below which multiple display items are hung. U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,944 to Otake et al. discloses a print holder in which a plurality of pockets or open-ended envelopes are intended to hold elemental prints that are part of a larger main image.
Additional examples of previous panel array products include the display system by Griplock Systems, Inc of Carpentaria, Calif. sold under the trade name “Art Track” which is representative of a broader class of commercial display products where two opposing long, thin wall-mounted members support a plurality of parallel cables to which display items are mounted.
Several of the prior art systems listed above, however, are quite hardware-intensive, making use of long, bulky, or numerous parts. This results in greater expense in manufacturing and shipping. The visual prominence associated with bulky hardware is generally not desirable given that one of the central purposes of these products is to present art or other visual media. Complexity is also a common drawback in one or more of the referenced prior art examples, correspondingly relating to higher cost and more substantial installation effort with greater likelihood for errors. Several of these systems further suffer from lack of versatility pertaining to their inability to accommodate different panel types and sizes. Several of these systems further present impediments to ready panel change-out, therefore negatively impacting the usability of the systems.